


Late Night Call

by premivmtrash



Series: Don't Let Me Be Lonely [1]
Category: Sand Castle (2017)
Genre: (thats the reason for the rating), Hints of PTSD and Depression, Late Night Conversations, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-22 22:20:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15592014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/premivmtrash/pseuds/premivmtrash
Summary: Matt's life is at a standstill. Maybe an unexpected email in the middle of the night could change that.





	Late Night Call

It’s been eight months since Matt had left the army.  
It’s been eight months since he had last seen Enzo and Burton. And Harper.

He had returned back to his mother's place after he had left which he silently regretted a little. His mother was constantly asking why he hadn’t started college yet, telling him that he’d never get anywhere if he weren’t, and his sister always shot him worried looks when she thought he wasn’t paying attention which was almost worse than his mother’s nagging. 

Matt was well aware that he couldn’t stay at home and do nothing forever, but when the deadlines for college applications had rolled around he just hadn’t had it in him to actually apply anywhere. He had stood in front of the mailbox, the letters in his hands, the only thing left to do actually throwing them into the metal box, when he had turned on his heels, thrown the applications in a nearby trash can, and walked back home. It simply didn’t feel right. Where was the point in learning about literature, or engineering, or finances, or whatever when life could come to a crashing end any second? He had seen it, after all, life being stripped away from good people, just like that. No, going to college, taking pointless exams, and getting drunk at frat parties simply didn’t feel right while there was so much horror in the world.

Sometimes Matt wondered if the other guys from his team, if Burton or Enzo or Harper, ever had thoughts like this, if they ever struggled to find a point in existing. He had lost contact with them pretty quickly after coming back to the States. He had thought that maybe distancing himself from everything connected with the military would help him feel better. Far too late, he realized that it not only had not helped, but he had also lost touch with the only people who could understand, who had seen the same things he had. 

On this night, Matt lay awake in his bed again, nightmares keeping him from sleeping. He had hoped that his sleeping problems would just disappear after some time, but they had actually gotten worse and worse. He hadn’t told his parents about this either. They wouldn’t understand. Matt rubbed his tired eyes, sighed, then reached for his phone to see how late it was. 

The screen illuminated the room. After he got used to the sudden brightness, he read the numbers “04:19”. He also saw that he had an email notification. Raising his eyebrows, he wondered who the hell would send him an email in the middle of the night. With skilled fingers, he unlocked his phone, clicked on the notification, which was a couple of hours old, and read the name of the sender. And read it again. And again. He blinked in disbelief. 

“From: James Harper”. 

Matt swallowed hard and kept reading.

“Hey Ocre,

I haven’t heard from you in quite a while so I figured I’d just send you an email to see if you’re still alive. I hope life’s going well for you. It’d be nice to hear from you again, so maybe shoot me a reply? You could also just call me if you’d like.

Take care,  
James Harper”

Matt stared at the screen, unsure what to do next. Should he reply? Or just call his former Sergeant? He hesitated for a second, before softly clicking on the phone number written on the bottom of the text. His phone went into dialing and Matt reluctantly put it to his ear, waiting for whatever would come next. Part of him wished that Harper simply wouldn’t answer. He had no plan what he could say and wasn’t sure what the other man had expected when he had written that email. Matt had halfway convinced himself to just hang up, when the dialing tone stopped and a voice answered.

“Hello?” Harper croaked, sounding as if he had just woken up. Swallowing hard and already regretting the call, Matt remembered that it was currently four in the morning.

“Uh, hey, it’s Matt. Matt Ocre. From the army,” Matt quickly added, immediately scolding him for stammering like a high school girl on her first date. James on the other end of the line just chuckled.

“Yeah, I know who you are, Ocre.” 

Matt had no idea what to say next.

“I, uh, I got your email.”

“Oh, right. That’s good. I wasn’t sure if the address was still correct. And I definitely didn’t expect you to call so quickly,” he said jokingly. 

“Right, sorry about that. Forgot about the time.”

“Eh, it’s all right, don’t worry.” There was a moment of silence. “It’s good to hear your voice, Ocre.”

Tension left Matt’s body. He hadn’t realized how much he had isolated himself, how much he longed for comfort, for someone who’d understand - not until now. There was so much he wanted to say, so much he wanted to ask, that he was overwhelmed for a second. The only thing he ended up uttering, however, was:

“Yeah. Good to hear yours, too.” There was a short pause again. “So, uh, how have you been?”

Harper let out a dry laugh.

“Eh, could be better. I was supposed to get married two months ago, but my fiancée decided she’d rather run off with some random guy. Said I was never around anyway. So, you know, there’s that.”

“Oh.” Matt cleared his throat. “Sorry to hear that.”

“Nah, it’s all right. But thanks. Anyway, what about you? Life’s been treating you well since you left the army?” 

“Yeah, yeah. I’m living the dream. You know, hanging ‘round my parents’ place, being unemployed, and calling random people at 4am. It’s going great.”

Harper laughed and Matt smiled for the first time in what felt like ages. God, he hadn’t realized how much he missed Harper. 

“Well, seems like we’re both winning at life.” 

“Yeah, definitely.” 

A comfortable silence settled between them. Matt could hear Harper’s steady breath on the other end of the line. And he thought that maybe, just maybe, things could become okay again.


End file.
